Thread: Understanding the Stimulus Bill

Shortly after class, an economics student approaches his economics professor and says, "I don't understand this stimulus bill. Can you explain it to me?"

The professor replied, "I don't have any time to explain it at my office, but if you come over to my house on Saturday and help me with my weekend project, I'll be glad to explain it to you." The student agreed.

At the agreed-upon time, the student showed up at the professor's house. The professor stated that the weekend project involved his backyard pool. They both went out back to the pool, and the professor handed the student a bucket.

Demonstrating with his own bucket, the professor said, "First, go over to the deep end, and fill your bucket with as much water as you can." The student did as he was instructed.

The professor then continued, "Follow me over to the shallow end, and then dump all the water from your bucket into it." The student was naturally confused, but did as he was told.

The professor then explained they were going to do this many more times, and began walking back to the deep end of the pool.

The confused student asked, "Excuse me, but why are we doing this?" The professor matter-of-factly stated that he was trying to make the shallow end much deeper.

The student didn't think the economics professor was serious, but figured that he would find out the real story soon enough.

However, after the 6th trip between the shallow end and the deep end, the student began to become worried that his economics professor had gone mad.

The student finally replied, "All we're doing is wasting valuable time and effort on unproductive pursuits.

Even worse, when this process is all over, everything will be at the same level it was before, so all you'll really have accomplished is the destruction of what could have been truly productive action!"

The professor put down his bucket and replied with a smile, "Congratulations. You now understand the stimulus bill."

Professor must have voted McCain.

Originally Posted by jason_jinx

Professor must have voted McCain.

Yeah, because no Dems are bashing the stimulus bill?

I might add that this representation is inaccurate. The end result is of no improvement to society. The stimulus bill will have an improvement in many sectors.

Originally Posted by jmw_man

I might add that this representation is inaccurate. The end result is of no improvement to society. The stimulus bill will have an improvement in many sectors.

The question is though, will the society be economically stable enough to appreciate those improvements or will we be more worried about paying for the necessities in life.

Originally Posted by Blakeman

Originally Posted by jmw_man

I might add that this representation is inaccurate. The end result is of no improvement to society. The stimulus bill will have an improvement in many sectors.

The question is though, will the society be economically stable enough to appreciate those improvements or will we be more worried about paying for the necessities in life.

The new street car route are slated for will get used 5 days a week by me! I don't foresee me not using the mass transit system and switching to walking everyday. Although I do bike it sometimes...20+ miles would be too far to walk.

The link packetshooter posted shows what projects various cities are getting money for. All of ours are badly needed infrastructure that will allow us to re-open currently closed bridges and to make some new mass transit lines.

I will probably butcher this, but like Moto has tried to explain to me these days our economy is not based on production, but on cause and effect. If I have faith in the economy, and my personal finances, it will cause me to spend more money on things. The effect will be that whomever makes, ships, sells the items I buy will have more faith in the economy, and thus spend more as well. While I like the idea of new roads, buildings, water parks, whatever it does not cause me to feel any better about my, or the world's, economic situation, and does not cause me to want to go drive around just to enjoy the better roads. It might have a short term impact of providing new jobs, or at least sustaining existing jobs, to complete the projects, but once completed do these projects have the ability to keep money moving?

The question is though will this rail car system produce new jobs, or cause the circulation of more money, after the project is complete? If you need to travel 20 miles you will use the system, and so will others, but if it were not there wouldn't you still travel teh 20 miles, just a different way?

Originally Posted by SoySoldier

Originally Posted by Blakeman

Originally Posted by jmw_man

I might add that this representation is inaccurate. The end result is of no improvement to society. The stimulus bill will have an improvement in many sectors.

The question is though, will the society be economically stable enough to appreciate those improvements or will we be more worried about paying for the necessities in life.

The new street car route are slated for will get used 5 days a week by me! I don't foresee me not using the mass transit system and switching to walking everyday. Although I do bike it sometimes...20+ miles would be too far to walk.

The link packetshooter posted shows what projects various cities are getting money for. All of ours are badly needed infrastructure that will allow us to re-open currently closed bridges and to make some new mass transit lines.

Originally Posted by CivilWars

I will probably butcher this, but like Moto has tried to explain to me these days our economy is not based on production, but on cause and effect. If I have faith in the economy, and my personal finances, it will cause me to spend more money on things. The effect will be that whomever makes, ships, sells the items I buy will have more faith in the economy, and thus spend more as well. While I like the idea of new roads, buildings, water parks, whatever it does not cause me to feel any better about my, or the world's, economic situation, and does not cause me to want to go drive around just to enjoy the better roads. It might have a short term impact of providing new jobs, or at least sustaining existing jobs, to complete the projects, but once completed do these projects have the ability to keep money moving?

The bridges that will be reopened and the mass transit line being installed will make commutes much shorter here in Portland. Currently our traffic is awful with people idling, wasting fuel and spending an hour and a half to get home when it should take 20 minutes. We will use less gas and people will have more time each day.

Ok, so you and your neighbors have more time and money on your hands, how does that create new jobs, or sustain existing jobs?